The President’s fiscal year 2015 Budget proposes $135.4 billion for federal research and development (R&D) activities, an increase of $1.7 billion or 1.2% over FY 2014 enacted levels. “By continuing the Administration’s record of steady support for research and development across the full spectrum of scientific and technological domains—including such diverse priorities as biomedicine, advanced manufacturing, climate science, cybersecurity, natural resource management, space exploration, and national security—the Budget ensures that the United States will be an incubator of innovation and economic growth for many years to come,” said John P. Holdren, President Obama’s science and technology advisor and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

The Budget calls for $65.9 billion for non-defense R&D, up 0.7% or $477 million from the 2014 enacted level, and $69.5 billion for defense R&D, up $1.2 billion or 1.7% from the 2014 enacted level. Basic and applied research investments total $64.7 billion, up $251 million or 0.4% from 2014. Investments in development total $68.0 billion, an increase of 2.3% over 2014.

In addition, the President’s Budget proposes a separate, fully-paid-for $56 billion Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative that includes $5.3 billion for R&D endeavors.

Some highlights of the 2015 Budget include:

• ▪ $12.3 billion for R&D at the Department of Energy (DOE), to support such priorities as clean energy and advanced manufacturing, energy security, carbon pollution reduction and climate change mitigation, and modernization of the US nuclear weapons stockpile and infrastructure—including $5.1 billion for DOE’s Office of Science.

• ▪ $7.3 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the primary source of support for academic research in most non-biomedical disciplines, integrating fundamental research and education across a broad spectrum of science and engineering domains.

• ▪ $680 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) intramural laboratories in the Department of Commerce, to support research that promotes US innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology.

The 2015 Budget also provides ongoing support for key interagency initiatives, including:

• ▪ $1.5 billion for the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), which supports R&D focused on materials, devices, and systems that exploit the unique physical, chemical, and biological properties that emerge in materials at the nanoscale, including Signature Initiatives in such national priority areas as sustainable nanomanufacturing, solar energy, sustainable design of nanoengineered materials, nanoinformatics and modeling, nanoscale technology for sensors, and nanoelectronics.

The 2015 Budget also supports science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education to ensure that the US educational system is preparing students to become highly skilled workers and innovators prepared for challenging 21st-century careers. The budget proposes $2.9 billion for federal investments in STEM education, an increase of 3.7% over 2014 funding levels.

Additional details about the 2015 R&D Budget can be found on fact sheets and other resources at www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/rdbudgets.